Finding the Perfect Date or Love
by Y.U.J.A.4ever
Summary: Yumi is tricked into going on a date show by Aelita.YumiUlrichJeremieAelita


Chapter 1

Yumi Ishiyama, Odd Della Robbia, Aelita Stones and Jeremie Belpois had graduated from Kadic high six years ago. They are now twenty-three and live in a medium-sized apartment . After high school, Aelita took on Fashion studies and finally started dating Jeremie, the love of her life. Yumi on the other hand is a famous writer under the pen name beautiful bow.

Yumi sat on her lovely leather couch and scowled at the letter she was holding in her hands. Leave it to her best friend to complain about her lack of boyfriends. Fuming, she reread the letter.

_Dear Yumi,  
Jeremie and I are having the time of our lives in the Alps, we never thought it would be this fun ! But, really Yumi I can't believe i'm here celebrating my one year anniversary with my boyfriend while you are sitting there dateless !_

_So guess what we both did? We just entered you in ' Finding the Perfect Date '. Isn't that cool ? I hope you get into to it Yumi ! I really think that you'll find that special someone in there._

_Lots of love,  
Aelita._

_P.S.- Jeremie says hello !_

Yumi knew perfectly well that Aelita wouldn't leave her alone until she had found the man she was in love with. Like that was ever going to happen. Yumi had so far dated 9 guys in the past year. All of them had been Mr. Wrong escalated to a level that she would have never imagined.

The first one had spit every time he talked. Yumi shuddered, remembering how she had to keep a considerable distance from him in order to avoid a saliva slime bath.

The second was more interested in Yumi's boobs than her face. The guy's eyes wouldn't travel up her shoulders!

Yumi had almost liked the third one, until she had found out he was still dating his ex-girlfriend.

The fourth one was interested in Yumi's money than anything else. Great, Yumi thought, a man gold-digger. That's what the world needs right now.

The fifth had been fairly nice, but he was rather boring. And although Yumi hated to admit it, she did crave someone fairly decent looking, and he just didn't cut it.

The sixth one had been a twin and he brought along his brother on their date. Such thing's didn't fly for Yumi and neither of them were good looking.

The seventh one had been a real charmer. He even hit on the waitress on their date.

The eighth was a blind date. Yumi ended up having dinner with a 60 year old coot.

The ninth had talked a lot, to the extent where Yumi could not get a single word in. She had listened to the crazy fart until she could recite all of his childhood friends, his pets, his cousins, his sisters, and his stamp collection.

In short, Yumi was a complete jinx when it came to dating. So she might as well as take Aelita's help in this. Now she had a letter from the makers of 'Finding the Perfect Date' . Yumi hoped that she had been rejected. It was the reasonable thing to do after all, only desperate people went on these shows. Then again, she was desperate, and what if, just what if the man on the show was Mr. Right?

She tore open the letter and began to read in heated anticipation.

_Dear Miss Ishiyama,_

_We are delighted to inform you that you have been selected to appear on the third season of Finding the Perfect Date!_

_Please pack your bags for a eight-week trip and arrive at address given on the back between one p.m. and five p.m. on Saturday, November 11th. There your journey into romance will begin!_

_We are excited to meet you and wish you a lot of luck.  
- Vera RappStern, chief executive of Finding the Perfect Date_

Yumi squealed in delight . She had made it! But then again, was that really such a good thing? Shrugging it off, Yumi walked into her room to pack her bags for the coming Saturday. Ready or not, she had been chosen as one of the twenty-five on Finding the Perfect Date.

That Saturday, Yumi cautiously approached the Mansion. It was easy to recognize from miles away with its huge, sprawling estates. Most of all, she loved the gardens. As if the beautiful sound of water flowing from the multitude of fountains wasn't enough, the pretty Yumi trees adorning the sides of garden was enough to take anyone's breath away. Yumi smiled ' I can't wait to stay here.. hope the guy isn't like nine of those losers I dated.' She walked slowly to the palatial doors of the mansion, and was soon greeted by the chief executive of the show, Vera RappStern.

"Ohayo, Miss Ishiyama" she said with a bow "I'm Vera RappStern, I'll be giving you the details as soon as the other girls arrive."

"Thank you" Yumi said smiling.

Vera turned to a silent man beside her. " James, please assist Miss Ishiyama with her bags. "

"I wonder what the guy look's like " Yumi mused to herself as she handed the bags over to James.

"Oh," Vera giggled "He is my little brother actually. He's really cute and handsome. I' sure you'll love him " she said with stars in her eyes.

Yumi was stunned "Your brother?"

"Yes " Vera said smiling.Yumi just smiled politely and then stepped inside. For a second, she could not focus. The grandeur of the place was almost too much for her to bear, from the famous replicas of paintings splashed on the walls, to the huge glass chandelier in the middle, to the lovely brown leather couch in the living room upon which two giggling girls sat.

"What's your name?" One of the girls called out to her.

"Yumi Ishiyama " Yumi replied "And you?"

"Tamiya Diop , and this is Kasumi Solovieff " Yumi looked at them both.

"Yumi !" she heard someone shriek behind her. She turned around and was greeted by a pair of arms.

"Ohayo" she said, her voice muffled under Sissy's tight embrace.

"What are you doing here? " Sissy demanded.

"Aelita" Yumi answered smiling.

Sissy laughed shaking her head "Figures, I'm here because of Nicolas and Herve... they threatened to castrate me if I didn't enter this show ".Yumi laughed, before She could continue any conversations, Vera RappStern approached and told them all to get dressed for later that night.

Yumi sighed. She hated dressing up, and was in no mood to dress up and cake her face with goop, also known to the rest of the girl population as make up. But Aelita would kill me if I didn't wear all the dresses she made, besides she i'm going to be on TV and in front of all these girls, so I have to do this.

The Bachelor is going to pick 15 girls purely on looks and Yumi decided that as long as she was in the top ten list, she wouldn't care if she wasn't picked. Sissy came running up to Yumi. " What're you wearing? " she asked.

Yumi shrugged. "Something Aelita made."

Sissy smiled " Let's see it "

Yumi walked slowly over to her trunk and pulled out a long dark green, velvet like gown that had dark green designs and they were off shoulders. She quickly changed into them and came out. Sissy was impressed.

"Yumi you look soo good ! " Sissy said smiling.

"I agree " Tamiya said coming inside " How will you do your hair?"

Yumi sighed. Leave it to one of the other girls to make sure she dressed like a complete bimbo. Yumi quickly put her hair up in a nice bun, with a few hair to frame the face.Yumi did her makeup, and soon she was ready.

Milly gushed when she saw Yumi " Oh my gosh, "she exclaimed, and nearly had a epileptic fit, " you look ravishing! The bachelor is going to love you! "

Yumi blushed and smiled weakly. The girls each piled into limos and were driven down to the other end of the estate, where apparently the bachelor was waiting. Yumi hated to admit it, but she felt a close resemblance to butterflies in her stomach.

During the ride, in which Yumi developed a slight headache from all the squealing around her except from Sissy who was busy rolling her eyes, she began to wonder about what the bachelor would look like. But she didn't have to wonder long, because before she knew it they had arrived.

Yumi waited her turn as all the other girls exited one by one to be greeted by the man. In the distance she heard a lot of giggling and 'oh-my-goshes'. She moaned. What had she gotten herself into? Damn Aelita, she thought. Finally she stepped out. And then nearly fainted.

Standing there with a cool attitude and a small frown was a tall guy with amber eyes and messy brown hair. I recognize that hair anywhere, she thought as she froze on the spot. It can't be him though.. it can't it be..

"Ishiyama?" A familiar voice asked with a frown.

Yumi smiled and giggled nervously. "Stern, um small world eh ? hehehe "

Ulrich smiled "Yumi, it's a pleasure " he said, extending his arm. Though he looked as though he was smiling, Yumi saw the burning anger behind those eyes.

Yumi smiled nervously " Likewise, Ulrich" she said taking it. Yumi brushed past him to enter the party.

Yumi stared at her surroundings dolefully. Everyone was laughing and talking and bad-mouthing each other (whenever they were in vicinity of Ulrich). Every girl was trying to pull him away in search of some alone time. Every girl except Yumi. Yumi did not want alone time with the bastard, she wanted to go home.

Sissy joined Yumi "So...it's Ulrich huh?" she said trying to smile and failing miserably.

"Yeah... it's him" Yumi said with a frown.

"It's okay Yumi ... so what if you he left and it's been a long time now...he's grown up, i'm sure whatever happen back then he has gotten over it..." Sissy said hopefully.

Yumi sighed and nodded ' let's hope you are right Sissy or else it's going to be hell ' she thought. Together they watched with contempt as Ulrich sweat dropped and scowled at all the girls that literally fell all over him.

"Well I guess something's never change " Sissy said laughing.

Yumi just frowned and crossed her arms, counting the minutes until Ulrich would pick his damned fifteen girls and she could go home and pretend this never happened.

Ulrich of course, wasn't one to let it go. He slipped into the chair next to her and Sissy with a smirk on his face. "So, Sissy, do you still have that crush on me ?"

Sissy smiled " No I got over that ages ago."

"So what have been up to" Ulrich questioned.

" I'm also a writer now, just like Yumi" Ulrich turned towards Yumi and raised an eyebrow "You are a writer?"

Yumi scowled deeply."Why did you have to come talk to me?"

Sissy frowned at Yumi's rudeness but Ulrich laughed, causing quite a number of girls to turn around and swarm the table. "Thanks," Yumi said, making a motion to get up so she could escape the chaos.

Ulrich thought a little differently. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. Yumi was, needless to say, shocked. He was so, strong. Sure Ulrich took martial arts but she never realised he was this strong. Even in XANA's days he wasn't like this.

She looked at him. He still had the messy hair but now it makes him look descent especially with the hair hanging in his amber eyes. But he is still the same person he was at school. She could not see why these girls were so crazy over him.

"Do sit down, Yumi," Ulrich was saying. All the girls ooh-la-lahed.

"My pleasure," Yumi growled and sat as close as she could to Sissy. Sissy merely watched the drama unfold.

"So," Ulrich said coolly " What are your hobbies?"

Yumi paused. " Hmm let's see, I like to beat the shit out of amber eyed, messy-haired creatures and I like to write. "

Ulrich snickered, and so did a lot of the girls around him. "From the looks of it, I suppose this means you two have known each other before and that you didn't get along well ? " Milly said smiling.

"Is it that obvious? " Sissy asked.

"Yup, plus i'm a drama lover so I guessed it. Drama rules !" Milly said doing a victory sign. Everyone sweatdropped and fell down anime style.

Yumi recovered first "Oh and I also enjoy video games " she said casting a secret glance towards Ulrich.

Ulrich's eyes suddenly turned a cold darker shade of amber.She expected to be free in a mere two hours, and up till a moment ago, he had never considered keeping her here. After all, they did not get along, to say in the least.

But now, she would pay. Not only would he pick her, he'd pick her all the way till the fucking end, so he could bug the shit out of her and then dump her in front of millions of people on T.V.And he'd have a good time doing it.Yumi sensed Ulrich's lines of thought and cast him a look that clearly said ' Bring it on '.

Yumi watched as Ulrich got up and all his followers left her immediately. Ah, she thought, solitude again. The minute Ulrich and his fan club had left, Milly slid into the seat next to hers and Sissy.

"What's up?" she asked.

Yumi simply glared at the floor and said " I am in a very bad mood. I don't want to talk."

Milly clucked sympathetically. "It's okay. You take things too hard. And you have to admit, Ulrich's definitely gotten some great looks, no?"

"No," Yumi growled. "Not at all. He's too tall, too messy haired and too muscular and.. "

Milly laughed. "You agree with me then," she snickered.

Yumi raised an eyebrow "Which part of me telling that I can't stand him can't you understand?" she said rather harshly. Milly looked a little hurt, and Yumi instantly felt sorry. "Sorry, Milly " she said quickly. " Ulrich just tends to make me crazy."

"With lust, you mean?" Sissy piped in innocently.

"crazy in looooove " Milly said dreamily. Ever the drama queen.

" you guys..." Yumi warned, a dangerous edge coming to her voice.

"Only kidding!" Milly said, laughing and getting up. "Now if you don't mind, I'm off to convince Ulrich that he's going to pick me"

Sissy agreed with her "See you in a bit Yumi."

Yumi sighed. "You and everyone else. You know, you shouldn't even bother with that sick..."Yumi looked up to see that Milly and Sissy had already gone.

Suddenly Vera RappStern appeared in the room. Yumi was puzzled, how can Ulrich turn out to be such a jerk with a sister as nice as her?

She realized that Vera RappStern had begun to speak and turned her attention to her. "Girls, it's time! Ulrich, why don't you lead the way "

Ulrich got up and walked inside to where the gift ceremony was going to take place. In the gift ceremony the 15 girl would get a gift and for each ceremony the gifts would get more better. In each ceremony there is a diamond something and who ever gets it is usually who they like the most. And at the very last ceremony the girl will get a 3.5 million dollar diamond necklace. All the girls followed suit, Yumi bringing up the rear rather reluctantly. Well, at least she would get to go home soon. She prayed that her brother weren't watching this on TV. And if he was watching, she'd tell him it was all Aelita's fault.

Ulrich was beginning his traditional little speech. "This has been a really difficult decision to make," he began. "I mean, I think I have a connection with each and every one of you."

Yumi coughed delicately and Ulrich looked at her with loathing in his eyes. They both knew he was speaking bull shit. Ulrich picked up the first gift tenderly and called out a name. "Tamiya Diop," he said slowly. Tamiya smiled, and walked up to Ulrich, accepted the gift, and gave him a hug.

"Milly Solovieff." Milly did the exact same thing. So did the other twelve girls that followed, which included Sissy. Finally they were down to one last gift which was a red rose. On Yumi's right, a girl was sending a small prayer up. On Yumi's left, another girl that she didn't know was biting her lip in nervousness.

Why did they care so much? Yumi could not wait until he hurried up and called the last girl and then she would be able to go home at last. Ulrich inhaled deeply. Damn, Yumi thought. He's going to do it slowly.

"Yumi Ishiyama," he said finally. The girl on Yumi's right burst into tears and the girl on her left bit her lip so hard that a droplet of blood appeared.Yumi stared at him incredulously. He hadn't just called her, no, damn it, he had.

She walked up to him slowly and heard him ask the repeated question "Will you accept this gift?" She was quite tempted to say no and poke him in the eye with that rose.

Right as the word was about to roll of her tongue, she had a better idea. So he wanted to torture her by keeping her here? Well, that could be arranged, provided she added a little bit of her own 'fun' ideas. In fact, this would be quite the blast, to humiliate him on TV with the whole world watching. "I will," she said, and they both smirked at each other.

The fifteen girls then headed to their room. Everyone rushed in and got the best bed they liked. Yumi tossed and turned all night, but her dreams were constantly haunted by a glaring Ulrich in his Lyoko fighting outfit handing her rose after rose.

In the early hours of the morning, Yumi realized that there was no way she was going to have a decent amount of sleep and resorted to staring at her ceiling and imagining she was at home, watching this on TV instead of actually being in it.

She watched her room mate, Azra, sleep peacefully. Azra was probably having dreams about Ulrich too, except they were fantasies instead of nightmares.

Yumi shuddered. It was quite disturbing, really, the way all these girls lusted after him.

Around seven, Yumi arose from the bed and took a quick shower. She heard noises from the bedroom near hers and peeked in to see Milly agonizing in front of her closet.Yumi sighed as she herself pulled on an old sweat shirt.

She'd brought fancier clothes, but that was before she knew that the bachelor was Ulrich. He didn't deserve nice clothes. He deserves a good kick in the a.

While she waited for breakfast, Yumi pulled out a book and started to read for the next hour or so, while Azra bathed. Her concentration was broken, however, by a large sound that droned out any thought. It was Azra's blow dryer.

Yumi marched up to her and yelled, "Could you turn it down a little? I'm trying to read!"

Azra either did not hear her or pretended not to have heard. She continued to blow dry as Yumi watched, open-mouthed, until her hair had formed into tiny ringlets.

She switched the dryer off and turned to Yumi. "How do I look?" she asked.

For the first time, Yumi noticed Azra's attire. She was wearing a low-cut, puke green, lacy, skin-tight, thing. It did not even resemble a dress and it clashed horribly with her red hair..

"It's, um, very, uh, unique" Yumi told her. "Ulrich will be sure to remember it " Yumi nearly snickered but used great control to keep her laughter at bay.

Azra practically glowed from what she thought was a compliment. "Really! " she said happily." I hope I get a date with him today."

Yumi frowned as she remembered the outline of Finding the Perfect Date. Of course. Dates! She shuddered at the thought; a date with Ulrich. Gods, It made her past horrifying 9 dates look like heaven. Well, maybe not those dates..Her body shook further as she remembered that one girl out of every group of girls was picked to go on an individual date. Gods, she thought unhappily, please, let my luck be a little better than that.Only good thing about the dates was the a gift was to give out. They were usually pretty cool things.

Breakfast was a quick affair and soon the girls were light-heartedly chatting about Ulrich's stunningly good looks "He's so handsome " one of them swooned.

Another chimed in "He's dead sexy ! God, he looked so cute when he was ruffling his hair " .

Yet another giggled. " He's my dream guy! " All the girls let out a sigh of hope and fantasy.

Yumi just wanted to run screaming down the street. Around mid-afternoon, Milly ran into their quarters shrieking like a woman in delivery.

"Oh my gosh! " she screamed, and all the girls looked up from whatever they were doing, "A Love Letter! Girls, we've got a LOVE LETTER! "

"Whoop-de-doo" Yumi replied sarcastically under her breath.

Everyone abandoned everything at once, except for Yumi, who was just at this most interesting part in her book. Milly soon put a halt to that.

"Yumi, we've got a Love Letter! And I'm not opening it until everyone's paying attention" she said slyly.

Yumi quickly put down her book before she was swarmed to death by a horde of angry girls.

A Love Letter was really just letter that told which girls were going on the date and who got the individual date, along with many details. Milly picked up the letter, cleared her throat and began to read in earnest. "It's for ooh, Tamiya, Sissy, Heidi,  
Azra and Naomi ! " she said excitedly.

"Who gets the individual date? " Azra demanded.

Yumi snickered, thankful that she wasn't on the list. It would be awfully fun to imagine Ulrich on an individual date with Azra. He'd reaaaaally admire her puke-green thing (she referred to it as the latest in fashion magazine).

"Tamiya !" Milly said happily. Tamiya beamed.

"All of you guys get to go to the hill resort with Ulrich " Milly said dreamily. " Afterwards you'll all have snacks and then Tamiya will go to dinner with him! "

Everyone ooh-ed for Tamiya, who looked like she'd just won the Nobel Prize. Even Yumi congratulated her friend. After all, she was excited about it, and she took the spot of at least one individual date. Yumi hoped that out of the remaining two individual dates, neither would be for her.

Soon afterwards, the girls going on the date departed, leaving ten girls behind. The girl named Jeanne soon suggested a round of the ever popular waste-of-time game, also known as Truth or Dare.

" Buuut " she squealed happily, "We'll make it truth or truth! "

" What? " someone asked.

" You'll see " Jeanne said, her eyes sparkling. "I'll go first. I pick Yumi."

Yumi rolled her eyes. She had many secrets, and none of these girls would really understand that.

" Fine. I suppose I'll have to pick truth."

"Okay. First rule of this version of the game is, all the questions have to be about Ulrich! " Yumi groaned. Here she was, surrounded by bubbly girls that were all obsessed with Ulrich Stern ! How she hated Aelita!

"My question to you is, do you really hate Ulrich?" Jeanne asked innocently.

Yumi pondered the question. Did she really detest Ulrich with every fiber of her being, did she really want to beat him to a pulp and leave him to die, did she really wish him to be dead in a fight against XANA? .

Unfortunately, all the answers turned out to be no. Sure, she hated his attitude, hated him for not helping defeat XANA, hated the fact that he never gave her a chance to prove herself, but not _him_.

Yumi didn't hate people. "Well " she said, trying to explain herself "I don't really hate him, I am just mad at him for-"

But she was suddenly cut off by a shriek from another girl." Oh my gosh, girls! " Milly cried. " Yumi doesn't really hate our man! It's a tactic! "

Before she knew it, Yumi was being patted on the back by the girls, who were all saying, " Wow, you're so smart, playing hard-to-get right from day one!" and , "Wow, you are so wicked !", and "That's a great tactic, Yumi!"

Yumi's jaw dropped. " What tactic? " she said hotly. " I swear I can't stand him! I just said I don't hate him because I don't hate anybody! "

Of course, none of the girls believed her. Yumi wanted the floor to swallow her up. This was going from bad to worse. The girls did not lay off their congratulations until the other four girls returned from their date.

"How did it go? " Milly demanded.

Azra smiled broadly. "He was awestruck by my outfit ."

Sissy smiled and coughed loudly "coughcough horror struck coughcough "

Yumi, once again, expressed great self-control and did not laugh. The other girls, too, shared their special moments. Only Heidi didn't say anything. She just smiled mysteriously until someone questioned her.

"Heidi! What happened between you and Ulrich?" asked Jeanne excitedly.

Heidi's smiled broadened. " He kissed me " she said lightly.

All the girls gasped. " Oh my gosh! " yelled Milly. " Really! "

"Yes. We were saying goodbye and he kissed me! "

Everyone cheered for Heidi, although Yumi noticed a lot of the girls sported frowns. Jealous, Yumi thought lightly. Already.

Soon Tamiya came home as well. " Guys " she exclaimed. " It was positively lovely! We talked about everything! And he kissed me goodnight " she said happily. Everyone sighed dreamily.

The next day, another Love Letter arrived. This time it was Jeanne who intercepted it, and she screeched in a manner similar to that of Milly.

"I'm reading it, girls " she yelled, " So you better listen up! "

All eyes were drawn to her as she read the letter. " Okay, this date is for Milly, Priscilla, Yumi, Katey, and me !" While the other girls called grinned wildly, Yumi's face considerably dropped.

" Who got the individual date? " asked Priscilla worriedly.

Yumi shut her eyes and hoped that it wasn't her. " It's Yumi !" Milly screamed.

So much for that hope. Yumi sighed. She half-expected it, almost. Anything that could go wrong was going wrong. "You will all be going to a spa with Ulrich! '

Yumi didn't really listen until she heard Milly shout, "We get to see Ulrich in his swimming trunks! Yes!"

Only then did she realize what a day she was in for. Yumi breathed in a sigh of relief as she entered the quiet of her room. That was until she remembered what torture her day would turn out to be.

Self-consciously, Yumi searched trough the dresses Aelita had given her.

She then selected an elegant and fashionable mist colored one-piece with a deep neck and sides that showed the sides of her abdomen. It had a design of a cherry blossom near the chest. Although this was a little too revealing for her, there was no way she was going to show up to some pool orgy in a bikini. Showing off to the whole T-V world her skin isn't exactly her dream come true!

She grabbed a pair of flip-flops and a cherry blossom colored pool robe, put her hair up in a bun, and stepped out to wait for the rest of the girls. After waiting for about five minutes, she sighed, went back in and came out with an interesting read.

It turned out to be a very good ideait was a good thirty minutes before any other life showed up. It turned out to be the girl called Priscilla. She wore a frown on her face as she pranced across the room in her outfit.

"What do you think?" she asked Yumi who was in deep thought. Yumi looked up, a little disoriented. Her mouth nearly dropped open when she saw the tiny thing that Priscilla wore.

Yumi sweatdropped and gave a nervous laugh and muttered, " it's uh, revealingly beautiful... " hoping she would get a hint.

Priscilla instantly beamed " Thanks, I'm gonna knock him dead with this".Yeah right, she thought angrily, he's not going to appreciate hanging out with sluts! Or maybe he would.

Ulrich did kiss Tamiya and Heidi and I thought that he wasn't into this whole kiss a girl thing. I guess he changed. So maybe he wouldn't mind getting up close and personal with miss im-wearing-a-bikini-but-it-actually-is-a-piece-of-string.

Whatever. It's not like I care. I was merely having a random thought. Yumi said convincing herself. Not long afterward, the rest of the girls were ready to go. "I am so excited," declared Milly happily. One of the cameramen came into the room and zoomed up on Milly's glowing face.

Of course this turned on her drama spree . Milly faced the camera and gave the big-sparkly-dreamy eye look " I hope he likes me in this outfit " she said.

Yumi groaned as the cameraman made his way to her. "Do you feel thrilled on getting the individual date?" he asked slyly.

"Yup, this is as thrilling as watching a slug race " Yumi said, smirking. The cameraman scowled.

"Why are you on this show?" he probed.

Yumi shrugged. " Twisted fate" she answered calmly. There was no way she was going to rant to the world about her 9-dates-disaster or about Aelita-the-sly.

Finally the girls all went into the Limo and began chatting happily about Ulrich.

Yumi gritted her teeth and did all her best not to jump out of the car.

After the pain staking long 15 min journey , Yumi and the girls soon found themselves in one of the China's top-rated spas (and obviously extremely expensive) Le Grand.

When they arrived, Sheifa RappStern immediately greeted them. Yumi sighed. The lady seemed to be everywhere.

"I'm sure you are all very excited about seeing Ulrich!" she gushed. All the girls smiled brightly. Yumi pretended to be absorbed in the shape of her right toe.

" First we're going to set you all up with fifteen minutes alone with Ulrich in one of the steam rooms," Vera explained. "Why don't you go first?" she said, pointing to a small girl who nearly jumped with joy.

" First impressions is the best" she said with a winkas she went into the room that Vera had pointed to.

All the other girls slid into the warm water of a nearby hot tub. Yumi closed her eyes, trying to relax. At last they were free of the cameramen who was now with Ulrich and the girl. Around her, the other girls were talking about what their impressions of Ulrich were so far.

"Yumi loves him," Milly said teasingly.

Yumi cracked open an eye and glared at Milly. "I don't think so," she said.

"You liar," another one said. "You're just playing hard-to-get !"

Just then the small girl stepped out of the steam room. " You're next, Milly."

And so it went through all four girls until at last it was Yumi's turn.NWith a look of resignation, Yumi up to the room and opened it. Hot steam greeted poured outand, she couldn't see a thing. Fumblingabout Yumi sat down on one of the benches, expecting to feel the hard wood beneath her. Instead, she felt something soft and warm. Oh, no, it was rather like, human flesh!

"Giving me a lap dance, are you ? "

Yumi screamed and leapt up with a smell yelp. Unfortunately, the floor was slippery and in her haste to get up, she slid across the floor, finally banging into the opposite wall. With a small moan, she rubbed her elbow, which had jabbed into the wall.

Ulrich snickered " Clumsy as usual . This isn't how you impress a guy " he said lightly.

"I'm not trying to impress you," Yumi said in the loudest voice she could musterwhich wasn't very loud because of the pain she was in.

"Don't just sit ther, jelp me up!" she demanded.

"Say please"

" Please help me up "

"Now there's a good girl "

Yumi grabbed his hand and stood up" I don't like you "she said glaring at him.

"Is that you're way of telling 'thank you ' ? "

Yumi scowled and sat down on the bench that was directly opposite. "How long do I have to be here? "she asked.

"I don't know, but hopefully not long, I'm too young to go mad "

Yumi huffed. "I'd come hit you, but I'm afraid I would fall "

"Klutz "

A few minutes of silence passed. " So " Yumi finally said, the silence was getting awkward "What girls are you interested in ? "

"I really don't know," he said thoughtfully. " There are too many."

Yumi frowned " What about Airo and Heidi? You kissed them."

"They kissed me. I didn't " Ulrich growled.

"Azra said you were awe struck by her outfit "

"Azra? The one wearing that puke-green skin tight thing? "

"yup"

"If what I felt was awe then I hate to think what horror is " Ulrich said shuddering.

The rest of the time passed by in silence. Soon she was out and the date passed by rather quickly. They all entered the hot tub, and Yumi rolled her eyes as she watched the girls constantly shift so they could be next to Ulrich.Ulrich looked like a deer caught in highlights, though he hides his emotion well, a long look at his eyes clearly showed his revolt. Yumi had a strange sense of pleasure on seeing this. She sat in one of the corners with a powerful jet and relaxed ignoring the constant giggle from the girls.

Ulrich, she noticed, was oddly quiet. Finally the girls bade Yumi and Ulrich goodbye and the two that were left were escorted to the poolside terrace restaurant.

Yumi was dismayed to find out that the menu was entirely in German. As the waiter approached the table, Yumi grew more and more agitated, but she didn't want to ask Ulrich for any help. Maybe I can skip dinner, she thought, but her stomach immediately growled in protest.

"Was möchte anordnen?"

Yumi stared up at the waiter who had sneaked up on them. He looked down snottily.

"You first"Yumi said automatically to Ulrich.

'Ha, take that, you jerk. Let's see how you handle this'

To her shock, Ulrich began to speak rapid French. "Ich würde Fisch mit Zitrone wollen," he said.

Both the waiter and Ulrich turned to Yumi expectantly. Feeling herself sweat drop and going red, she decided that she would just have to ask Ulrich.

"Er,um.. I can't speak German " she hissed at him.

A slow grin began growing on his face. He turned to the waiter and said, "Und sie würde das gleiche Ding wollen." The waiter nodded, took their menus, and left.

"What did you just order me?" Yumi demanded furiously.

"Cow spleen and ferret patãe," he smirked.

Yumi paled considerably. "You didn't," she whispered.

Ulrich's grin grew wider.

Suddenly she felt a sick wave of nausea wash over her. " How could you!" she shrieked. Some people turned to look at them.

"Shut up," he said rudely. The silence grew uncomfortable as they waited for their food.

Finally he broke the silence. "So, Ishiyama, why are you on the show?"

Yumi scowled at him. "I'm supposed to get a life and be looking for a serious boyfriend as Aelita puts it."

Ulrich smirked "Can't believe you need Aelita to do a man hunt for you at age 23 "

Yumi bristled "Well at least I had gone on dates with guys, unlike you Mr.Prude !"

Ulrich raised an eyebrow " For once Ishiyama you're right. I have no experience in that field "

Yumi nearly died of shock 'Did Ulrich just admit he was a prude?'

Ulrich smirked at her "I don't swing that way. You date guys, not me."

'Sick bastard ' Yumi thought snidely.

Finally, the food arrived, steaming hot, at their table. Yumi mentally grimaced and closed her eyes. She could practically feel Ulrich's smirking eyes boring into her as the plates were set in front of them.

When she opened her eyes, she stared down in shock at the plate in front of her.

"Ulrich!" she yelled. " This is salmon with lemon!"

"Ah," he said lightly. "So it is."

"You jerk! " she yelled. "You had me so worried!"

He smirked. "oops my bad? "

Yumi shot him a glare and dug into her food. They finished eating in half an hour and Ulrich payed the bill and gave a huge tip.

The waiter looked at it in glee and recollected himself . "Gute Nacht der Herr" he said in his snotty accent.

Ulrich looked her way and then said something in return in German. Yumi had a strange feeling he was doing this just to piss her off. Yumi growled and cursed Ulrich under her breath.

Ulrich smirked at her " Now, now, now, Yumi you very well know that I am a legitimate child and am not a mentally unstable guy with some stick stuck up my behind... and I would rather you did not talk about the hole in my behind like that."

"You are so despicable!" she spat.

"I know." Ulrich laughed at Yumi's frustration as they kept on walking to the Limo.

Inside the car...

Yumi sat as far away as she can from Ulrich and from the looks of it he doesn't mind it either. She was glad that her date was finally over and that she can go to her room and get some rest.

The crazed cameraman had left early saying he had to go shoot their arrival. I have a strange feeling he is up to no good Yumi thought frowning.

BAM BAM

"What was that? " Ulrich asked startled.

Yumi groaned " oh no, please don't tell me that's its a fla"

"It's a flat tire " the driver said getting out.

Yumi sighed " I told you not to say it "

Ulrich glared " Technically, you didn't finish that sentence so it doesn't count "

"Who asked you smarty pants! " Yumi said gritting her teeth.

Before Ulrich could continue the driver came back in " We don't have two spare tires so I'm going to find the nearest gas station " he said and went out.

'Great now I'm stuck with him! I hope he comes back soon ' Yumi thought nervously.

30 mins later...

"Ishiyama, could you stop fidgeting. Its bothering me." His voice was cold and deep. She turned her head towards him and glared.

"Stern, could you stop breathing. Its bothering me." She snapped back just as coldly. He gave her the best of his glares and stared out the window. 'Don't kill her. Don't kill her.' He continued to chant the words in his head when she abruptly interrupted them.

"Is he coming back?". He just starred are her for a few moments. His face blank of any kind of emotion.

She lifted her eyebrows and waved her hands in front of his face, "Helloooooo!"

"I don't know "

"I can't believe I'm _this_ desperate to go back to Airhead central " Yumi said sarcastically.

Ulrich smiled inside at the comment. "Well, they can't be all that bad " he said frowning.

Yumi rolled her eyes.

" Please, most of the girls think 1984 is some brand name for clothes, Animal Farm is a movie, Hamlet is food, and Utopia is just a word too big for their vocab. And this is not even skimming the surface of the problem. " she said exasperated.

"Lint has a higher IQ and makes a better companion " she said as an after thought.

Ulrich was trying all his best to stop the twitch in his lips threatening to show itself as a full blown smile.

But alas, he couldn't and for the first time Yumi heard him laugh.

A real and deep laughter that sounded like music to her ears, and even she couldn't help the huge grin that spread on her face.

'What went wrong? One minute I see Ulrich laughing his head off and the next thing I know he's giving me the cold shoulder again ' Yumi sighed.

"I thought I told you to stop fidgeting!" Ulrich said with a glare.

"And I told you stop breathing Stern! What is your problem anyway!" Yumi shouted.

"Well I'm looking at it right now !" Ulrich yelled back.

"Excuse me?"

"Are you turning deaf ? you heard what I said !"

"How am I the problem ?"

"When I had to leave, you just had to embarrassed me in front of my family THAT'S my problem!" Ulrich said with a dark glare.

" Excuse me your royal pain in the ass, you haven't been through half the things I have! Do you know how much we needed you back then?" Yumi said glaring.

"Needed me to what? Gloat about the upgrades you and odd got. The places you discovered. The new ablities you guys got." Ulrich muttered narrowing his eyes.

"No piss-for-brains ! When XANA toke human form and kill Aelita and Odd! When he put Jeremiein a coma. There you two of them a real one and a virtal one and only me. Do you have any idea how much I wished for you to be there to help me? "

"I...um ..."

"Of course not! You were too busy being an asshole to actually care about that ! I just don't want to talk anymore about this Stern, so just shut up " Yumi yelled and turned away.

Ulrich noticed that her eyes were glazed and were shining oddly. She was about to cry.

Years of fighting off Sissy had taught him to recognize the deadly signs.

The trembling lower lip  
The widened eyes to hold off the tears  
The periodic injured sniff

Yes she was about to engage in that ritual where she'd bawl her eyes out in a tidal wave of tears and banshee-like wails, while pounding herself mindlessly against the car door in anguish, and cursing heaven and hell...

Ok, so maybe she wasn't going to do ALL that, but she was definitely about to cry and he was the one responsible for it.

'oh jolly great, i'm on a fucking guilt trip ' Ulrich thought rolling eyes.

"Stop crying." Ulrich ordered.

Wrong thing to say, this made Yumi sniff some more.

Not knowing what else to do, he went and sat beside her and awkwardly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and sat somewhat stiffly. "I'm sorry " he patted her back in a mechanical sort of way.

"I-I shouldn't have gone off to Germany like that " Ulrich said .

"Damn right, you freaking sod " Yumi said sniffing.

Ulrich's eyebrow twitched at the insult "And, um, you should stop crying now, because it's rather unattractive and it'll make your eyes puffy and sore and you're getting my shirt wet now if you don't mind and-"

Yumi shrugged him away and went to sit in the other corner "You're not very good at this are you?" she muttered bitterly.

Ulrich just raised an eyebrow "Yeah well I don't get much practice with my kind of lifestyle."

Yumi looked at him in an odd way. "You live with 2 sisters, 5 female cousins, your Aunts, and your mother. You should've known how to do this by now! "

" Living with them can only make _you_ end up in tears, so you'd only convince yourself not to run off wailing like a banshee " Ulrich said rolling his eyes.

Yumi laughed hearing this and Ulrich shot her a grin in return.

"What's wrong with your hair?" Ulrich suddenly asked frowning.

Yumi looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"What's wrong with your hair?" He repeated in exactly the same tone.

Yumi raised a hand self-consciously to her head. "Nothing, why?"

"Oh, nothing." He said quickly and looked away.

If that was a trick to try and get her paranoid about her hair, well, it was working. Yumi kept looking at the glass window hoping she could see her hair's reflection in it.Ulrich smirked and suppressed the urge to laugh ' If she keeps this up, she'll turn vain in no time 'Just then the driver decided to turn up. They fixed the car and headed straight to the mansion.Ulrich and Yumi went into the hallway, this is were they need to go separate ways to their rooms.

Ulrich turned towards her and smirked " It was an interesting date "

Yumi raised an eyebrow "Yup, getting stranded in the Limo was an once in a life time experience "

Ulrich smirked a lot wider " Good night Yumi "

Yumi smiled " Good night, oh and Ulrich? "

"Yes?" Ulrich asked .

"I know you tricked me with that hair comment and I'll get you back for it you toad ! " she said grinning.

" Bring it on you stubborn cow! " Ulrich said grinning back

" Insubordinate jackass! "

" Psychotic bitch! "

"Stupid ..." Both Yumi and Ulrich broke off to stare at the coughing Camera man in bewilderment.

The camera man just looked at them clearly annoyed " I really need to wrap up the episode of your date, so would you mind ending your squabble and go to sleep already !"

Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other and laughed "Geez, what bee went up your ass?" Ulrich said smirking and Yumi giggled.

The camera man looked more annoyed than before.

Ulrich rolled his eyes and muttered something about ' freaks with no humor sense' . Yumi and Ulrich went to their rooms

wearing a faint grin on their face.

The next day the last five girls departed on their date with Ulrich, excited about going to a small village. They returned, smiling happily, and one of them was squawking in delight. "Oh, my, gosh," she yelled happily. "Girls, he made out with me!"

Yumi rolled her eyes, they are too pathetic . The familiar squeal and the happy dance was getting on her nerves and were rather boring.

Just then Vera RappStern walked in with a broad smile. "Girls," she said quietly. "It's time for the second gift ceremony."

An immediate silence followed the announcement, and the girls followed Vera into the next room.Yumi sighed and rolled her eyes as Ulrich began the usual speech"This has been the most difficult decision so far. All of you are wonderful women..."

Yumi saw him sneak a glance at her and she stuck out her tongue. It was immature, she thought to herself, but he was bull shitting his way through so many women.

Ulrich picked up the first gift confidently and spoke. "Milly" he said slowly.

Milly smiled and went up to accept the rose. Similarly, Ulrich made his way through many other girls, which, to consisted of Sissy, Tamiya, Jeanne and Heidi among them.

Finally he was down to the last rose. Azra was holding her breath, and Yumi almost felt sorry for her. She knew Ulrich wasn't about to pick the 'puke green skin tight thing ' wearing girl, as he called her.

Yumi's name hadn't been called and to her surprise, her heartbeat had intensified. She wanted to stay here, she wanted to get back at Ulrich for pulling that stunt yesterday.Big time.

After what seemed the longest pause, Ulrich quietly said, " Yumi."

Smirking, Yumi went up and accepted the gift, which if she was no mistaken was a jewelary box. Although she did back out of the customary hug. Oh, Ulrich, she thought revengefully, you have just made a big mistake. You are really in for something.

Ulrich gave her a challenging look and smirked.'You'll understand why revenge is sweet my Ulrich. ' Yumi thought smiling.

Suddenly her smile faltered a bit ' _My Ulrich_? where did that come from ?' she thought frowning slightly.

Yumi lay awake, plotting revenge against Ulrich. She had to get him back, of course, but the question was, how? Embarrassing him on public television was quite easy, but it just wasn't that appealing.

' Maybe...ooooh..yes ! That's the perfect plan ! ' Yumi thought .She smiled wickedly as she felt her eyes closing. Perhaps this trip wasn't all that bad.

The next day, Yumi was rudely awakened by a smiling Sissy ." Get up, sleepy head " she commanded." Vera's telling us what'll happen and stuff in ten minutes. "

Yumi groaned and rolled over. "Can't you just tell me afterwards?" she said, moaning into her pillow.

"No! We won't have time to come up. Anyway, I think she's telling us who's going on the next date and such."

Yumi rolled out of bed and stomped her way to the bathroom. Ten minutes later, she emerged, wearing a simple pink t-shirt and a black stretch .Her hair let loose. She liked to think she was balancing it all out from all the gold-diggers around her.

When she reached the living room, it was abuzz with hormonal activity. Girls were shrieking and squealing as usual, but Yumi couldn't see any reason for them to be.

"What's going on? " she asked Milly, who was standing next to her.

"Oh Yumi! You have to see this! Omigosh! " Milly said, eyes sparkling. Yup, she's still has her inner drama queen .Before Yumi could ask anything Milly thrust something into her hands.

Yumi realized that she was holding a stack of photographs." Whose pictures are these? " she asked warily. No way in hell she was looking at something these girls were so crazy about, what if it was Ulrich naked or something?

She wouldn't put it past these girls, they would do anything!

"They're Ulrich's baby pictures! " Milly exclaimed happily. " Vera showed them to us and we've been passing them around. "

Yumi turned them over to be greeted by, in fact, a very naked three-year-old Ulrich in a tub smiling happily. In one hand he clutched a rubber duck and in the other hand a soap.

In spite of herself, Yumi had to laugh. " He's so cute " she said. " What went wrong? "

Milly rolled her eyes. " No pretending to hate him, missy, " she said matter-of-factly. " We all know it's a tactic so come off it. "

Sissy smiled smugly and Yumi ignored them both. She sifted through Ulrich's pictures. He really had been a very, very cute kid.

Just then, Vera RappStern waltzed into the room. " How'd you girls like the pictures? " she asked, smiling widely.

" We love them! " some chorused. Yumi shook her head in amazement. They sounded like a bunch of little kids talking to Santa Claus or something.

" Well " Vera continued. "Here's the plan for today."

Some of the girls were so excited that the pictures soon slid out of their hands and ended up on the floor. " Nothing's better than the real thing " one of the girls declared.

Yumi looked at the picture she was holding and saw it was the naked three-year-old Ulrich's picture.

She screwed her face in disgust and willed not to gag as she understood the innuendo of what the other girl said.

'What's worse? Being stuck with a piss-for-brain ass hole (Ulrich) or being stuck with a bunch of perverted Air heads?' Yumi thought sulkily.


End file.
